NEW Still and Interview of Laura Prepon on Alex and Piper’s relationship

“That stuff changes people,” Prepon tells The Hollywood Reporterabout the psyche-scarring events that Alex and Piper experienced. “When stuff goes down, they go to each other for help and love — and for a lot of different reasons.”

“Alex sees that Piper is totally freaked out and scared and in over her head,” Prepon says. “It’s one of those things where you almost can’t help yourself.”

“We all unite to defy these officers and then when that happens with Poussey, it’s even more of a feeling of: ‘Wow, we’re in this together,’ ” Prepon says. “Everybody realizes that, even though there’s moments of levity, it’s still a scary place. Poussey’s death really solidifies a lot of the relationships and unites specific relationships in the prison. It makes them stronger, the fact that we all witnessed that. It brings Alex and Piper together on a deeper level.”

“Alex is trying to do herself in because she feels so guilty about what happened and Piper stops her from doing that, because she doesn’t want her to get caught,” Prepon says about Piper recognizing that she needs Alex. “Alex is having this whole moral dilemma in the end — she’s trying to write these notes around the prison and get caught — and Piper’s not going to let her.”

“We’ve seen Alex and Piper go through so many things, but it’s always grounded in the fact that they do really love each other,” says Prepon. “It’s this whole push-pull thing and that’s not going to change anytime soon. I don’t know if people like that can stay together for too long. But whatever comes in season five will be great.”